


How They Fell

by AngeliaDark



Series: Underfell: A.D. Edition [3]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Fontcest, Genocide Route, Pacifist Route, Underfell AU, now with an epilogue, sadness and happiness
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-11
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-06-01 15:52:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,534
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6526495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngeliaDark/pseuds/AngeliaDark
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The wrap-up to 'Full Circle' and 'Do Unto Others', featuring both Genocide and Pacifist Routes.<br/>Since it's the end games, it can be read without reading the first two, but things make a bit more sense if you do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Genocide Route--Sans

Word of the fallen human spread through Snowdin, but not as fast as the dust blown in by the cold wind that settled in the snow, on the houses, and on the Monsters who were in a state between bloodlust and panic at the revelation.

A human was down here, and it was killing Monsters, all starting from the Southern Ruins and tediously working its way in.

Sans set huddled back at the check-in station as Papyrus gathered the sentries and began issuing orders, pulling his hood up and tucking his hands into his pockets. The Southern Ruins door was a crumbling stone mess that Sans would sometimes go and lean against during times of stressful days when he just needed silence. To bring up his spirits, he would tell off-color jokes to himself that would gradually grow darker until he finally managed to hit one that was fucked up even for him, and then he would head on home.

Sometimes, though...he had an unseen audience; a woman on the other side of the door who seemed to alternate between chiding him for the terrible humor and bark out hysterical laughter. She sounded incredibly messed up in the head and two broken plates away from a homicidal spree, but oddly enough...it was sort of comforting. He would alternate between darker humor and easing up on it depending on her level of laughter, and just a few days ago, she spoke normally to him.

_"It's been so long since I've truly had company...I'm always so alone here...I haven't seen another living thing in so long...it's nice to know that you're real, and that life has gone on outside these walls..."_

Then she had lapsed into silence and Sans soon figured that she had left.

It was sad, he would think to himself. That stone door hadn't been opened since he came here, and for someone to have spent ten—or even LONGER—years without another living soul to talk to...

He often debated trying to open the door, to at least see who his audience was, but he always decided against it. She gave off a vibe of not being all there in the head, and who knows what manner of Monster she was, or what she would do on suddenly seeing someone else in this kill-or-be-killed world.

It was for his own safety, and, to an extent, hers.

And now...judging from where the dust was coming from...she was gone. The first person she sees in years is a human, and it kills her.

Even by Underground standards...that was a cruel fate.

Sans sighed, listening in as Papyrus gave out stations for all sentries to settle into, and accepted his assigned post without complaint, heading out with the others and pausing when he felt Papyrus's sharp hand on his shoulder.

"Do not let yourself get killed," Papyrus said, his voice sharp with the authoritative command before walking onward. Sans swallowed hard, tugging his hood lower onto his head as he walked out to his post.

Of all the times for his narcolepsy to kick in, it had to be NOW; Sans kept nodding off at his post, and every time he did...it began again.

The same visions he used to have when he was performing his experiments in Gaster's lab when he was younger, of other universes, other timelines. He kept seeing a small human in a striped shirt, flashes of a knife, the thick scent of dust in the air, the sight of a red scarf half-buried in the snow, waving in the dust-covered wind—

Sans jerked awake, his hand flying to his rib cage where his soul was pounding wildly in panic, unable to get the secondhand sense of absolute dread and despair out of his mind.

Papyrus dead with only a dusty scarf left behind...

The idea was insane; unbelievable, even. For Papyrus to die at the hands of a small human child armed only with a knife...

But he had seen it. Over and over, every time his narcolepsy forced him into sleep, like it was warning him, demanding he do something about it. He weighed the pros and cons of leaving his station and going to just check on Papyrus, thinking of the deep shit he would be in if it turned out everything was fine.

A vision of a red scarf in the snow flashed across his mind again, and it gave him the push to stand up and look around before leaving his station; he would suffer Papyrus's choice of punishment later, and gladly endure just to know he was safe.

The other sentries looked surprised that Sans would be abandoning his post, but Sans paid them no mind as he darted from post to post, and to the points around Snowdin's borders where Papyrus had set up death traps for humans and census escapees, and at each one, he found nothing.

Finally, he couldn't take it any longer. "PAPYRUS!" he shouted into the cold air, his breath misting in front of him. "PAPYRUS, WHERE ARE YOU!?" He ran to another death trap location, and finding it untouched and empty before rushing off to the Snowdin/Waterfall border. "PAPYRUS! FOR THE LOVE OF FUCK, ANSWER ME! PAPYRUS! PA—"

He slowed his running, taking several shaky steps before stopping entirely, staring ahead of him.

In the snow, half-buried along with plates of black armor, was a red scarf, shifting in the wind which suddenly felt colder than ever.

Sans stared at the items, numbly walking over and getting closer, trying to tell himself that it wasn't what it looked like, it wasn't what it looked like, it wasn't what it looked like, it wasn't what it looked like...

The edge of the red scarf brushing against his ankle gave him tangible evidence that this was real...that he was looking at Papyrus's black armor filled with dust, and a red scarf with no owner.

Papyrus's red scarf.

Papyrus...

Papyrus...

Papyrus...

Sans dropped to his knees in the snow, one hand clenching around the scarf, silent for many long moments before his frame shook softly with broken laughter. "...heh...you...you got me good, Boss..." he said, his left eyelight flickering. "You got me! Sick...it's a sick joke, but goddamn, you fucking got me...!" He looked around helplessly, seeing nothing but snow and trees. "...come on out, Boss, I...I learned my lesson, don't leave the post...you got me...!"

Silence.

"...don't...don't do this to me, Boss..." Sans's hand shook hard, pulling the dust-covered scarf out of the snow. "Please...not this...f...fuckin' break my bones...strangle me...b...but not THIS...NOT THIS JOKE!" He let out a strangled cry. "FUCKIN' STOP IT, PAPYRUS! STOP FUCKIN' PLAYIN' AROUND AND GET OUT HERE! PAPYRUS!"

Silence.

"...Papyrus..." Sans felt hot trails of tears running from his eye sockets at that horrible silence, when there was no Papyrus there to reprimand, mock, console, or yell at him. This was all too familiar...like fourteen years ago when his brother was taken from him, but this was different. This hurt more, it left something TRULY missing in his soul, that unspoken bond that being brothers held by a string that was now gone. Completely.

Sans couldn't feel Papyrus's soul anymore.

He was...

...he was...

"...I tried to stop them..."

Sans froze, his eyelights shifting over to the source of the small voice, seeing a tattered yellow flower peeking out from behind a tree, its aura one of innocence, and yet a brokenness that transcended simply having one's soul tainted. Sans recognized this creature; he had seen it several times around Snowdin and it always seemed to come back no matter who did what to it. Sans personally never touched the thing; not only did it not have the 'soul' that every living creature should have in the traditional sense, but Sans had a personal mission statement to never raise his hand to an innocent, even if it happened to be a sentient flower.

"...what?" he growled back, both hands clenching into the scarf. The flower flinched, half-hiding back behind the tree.

"...I tried to stop them..." it repeated, its voice shaking. "...they...the human...they're just a child...but something's WRONG with them...they...they're afraid...they lashed out...T...Toriel scared them so badly in the Ruins that they stabbed her and ran...!"

Sans felt his soul twinge; Toriel...that had to have been HER name...

The flower continued to speak. "I TRIED to tell them to stop...that...that there were still GOOD Monsters out here...ones that wouldn't hurt them...but...they just...every Monster they saw, even the Snowdrake younglings..."

"That doesn't make any FUCKING SENSE!" Sans snapped, his left eyelight flaring. "PAPYRUS IS FUCKING STRONG! SOME LITTLE SHIT WITH A KNIFE DIDN'T STAND A CHANCE AGAINST HIM!"

"He showed them MERCY!"

Sans froze, his eyelight flickering out. "...what...?"

The flower shook, sounding close to tears. "...Papyrus saw them...they were crying...they were still...so messed up in the head after killing those Monsters...EXP does such horrible things to humans, and this...this was a child...they were crying and saying they wanted to go home and...Papyrus didn't attack them. He showed them MERCY, and..."

Sans didn't hear anything else the flower was saying, his skull ringing with shrill static and his soul filling his bones with white-hot fire, with HATE.

Papyrus had seen a small scared child—which Sans knew was his GUARANTEED one soft spot—and had shown them MERCY. A HUMAN, at that. And...and now...

Sans's body shook, more tears dripping over his face and landing on the scarf in his clenched hands, a beastlike roaring ringing in his skull. "That...FUCKIN' KID...!" he hissed out, his eyelight blazing. "I'LL FUCKIN' KILL 'EM! RIP THEIR GODDAMN GUTS OUT! TEAR 'EM APART AN' BURN WHAT'S FUCKIN' LEFT...!"

"No, you can't, you don't understand, they—" The flower was cut off when Sans summoned a Blaster and vaporized the tree, sending the flower scurrying away under the snow. Sans stood up, holding the scarf in his hands for several long moments before wrapping it around his neck.

This piece of shit human killed his baby brother.

They would NOT be leaving this place ALIVE.

* * *

He finally found them in the King's castle hall, having followed the trail of dust left in their wake, and was now face-to-face with them.

Just a kid...just a goddamn KID...they were covered in dust and blood that wasn't even their own, clutching a dirty knife in their small hand. Common brown hair framed their thin, youthful face, and their expression was...odd. Although at first glance emotionless, the vibe their soul was giving off seemed to be at a constant tooth-and-nail fight between the LOVE-driven urge to HURT, MAIM, KILL...and an innocent child screaming and crying and wanting everything to go away and stop hurting.

Such a fucking enigma; LOVE took away the hurt, made it so much easier to kill...but what was it the flower said? About EXP and LOVE doing crazy shit to humans? And this was a goddamn CHILD, not even an adolescent yet, driven to kill by fear and tainted by the very air of this place where it was kill or be killed.

Sans always held onto the belief that children shouldn't have to be subjected to the creed of the Underworld, but time and time again, with himself, with Papyrus, with this fucking human kid...no one was immune to this fate.

But Papyrus had shown them MERCY...Papyrus had seen himself in this child and had only wanted to spare them the pain of furthering the path he had to take just to survive into adulthood...

…..and the little fucker KILLED him for it.

There would be no more MERCY for this kid. In fact, he'd be doing them a kindness, putting them out of their misery before the Underground tainted their soul even further.

"...looks like you've been busy," he commented, glaring at the kid as he clenched his hands into his pockets. "...you've been here awhile, kid, so...lemme ask you somethin'...do you think...that even the worst kind of Monster can change? That it's never too late to just...put the knife down, so to speak, and show someone MERCY? That they can change if they really wanted?"

Silence. Sans saw the child shift their weight from one leg to the other, like a little kid enduring a verbal reprimand so they could leave as soon as it was over; their head was ducked down slightly as though chastised, but unwilling to face the truth of their actions.

Sans's jaw tightened. "Right. So. Lemme ask you another question." His eye sockets became dark, dead voids. "Do you wanna have a bad time? Because if you take one more step forward, you dirty brother killer...you are REALLY not gonna like what happens next."

The kid remained quiet for the longest time before they slowly and deliberately shuffled forward.

* * *

Sans detested this world, and every bad hand that had ever been dealt him.

Being born into this kill-or-be-killed world.

Being born to a father who took joy in molesting his own children.

The taint of this world to drive him to hurt his baby brother.

His baby brother becoming the key source of his pain and pleasure, his love and hate.

His baby brother being taken away from him.

But he could forgive all of that—ALL of it—IF HE DIDN'T HAVE THIS GODDAMN 1 HP.

Doubled over on the floor of the hall with dust and marrow dripping out of him was one thing, but for it to be drawn out like this...it was exceptionally cruel. His soul was struggling against the handicap of his HP to keep going, to keep his form solid and stable, only prolonging the pain.

The human was standing close by not looking too much better than him, but still standing nonetheless, the knife still clenched in their shaking hand. Their expression was wearily blank, but their eyes were a maelstrom of emotions ranging from excitement at finally landing the killing blow to disbelief at taking yet another life.

Sans pressed a hand to his front, feeling the ribs crumble to dust at the touch, wincing in pain, somehow the only thing he could think was how he hoped and prayed Papyrus hadn't suffered like this. "...you're...a real piece of work..." he managed to drawl out, blindly reaching out with his free hand and bracing himself up on a pillar. "...his...his name was Papyrus..." He shot the kid a sharp look, seeing his vision swim before him. "...I WON'T let you...go on thinkin'...he was just another nameless Monster..."

He forced himself up to his feet, leaning against the pillar as he caught his shallow breath. "...he was my brother, you little bastard...and he's never shown another Monster MERCY before...so I...hope you're fuckin' proud of yourself..."

His vision swam violently and his knees nearly buckled, but he forced himself to stay upright. He refused to buckle under the blow of this beast and humiliate himself to Papyrus's memory; in fact, he half-hoped the kid would strike another blow and finish it.

But the blow never came.

The kid walked on.

And Sans felt his bones dissolve into dust as, at last, his soul began to die.

He clutched his hand into Papyrus's scarf, burying his face into it and allowing the scent of his brother be his final sensation.

_'Goddamn it...I let you get hurt again, Paps...I'm so sorry...so...so sorry...'_

_._

_._

_._

**GAME OVER**


	2. Genocide Route--Papyrus

When Papyrus heard word of a human in the Underground after so long, he could scarcely believe his luck. A human falling down here—the SEVENTH human, even!—during his lifetime and at a point where his career could progress was the greatest stroke of luck he could ever have asked for.

His probationary year of his first Guardsman assignment paired with the mandatory three work years was up, and he was ready for progression. At this point, Undyne had replaced Rex as Captain of the Royal Guard, and in their meeting last week, she said that with the exceptional work he had done with Snowdin, he could have any position he could ask for.

Papyrus gave it serious thought; contrary to how he acted, now that Snowdin was cleaned up and running more functionally, he LIKED the town. It was quiet, private, and best of all, he had full control over it. He commanded and received respect, and he had a home that FELT like a home.

...and he had Sans.

The only upkeep he really had to deal with was the image he projected when it came to Sans. He was loathe to favoritism, and thus Sans was put to the same standards as any other citizen and publicly reprimanded as such.

Behind the closed doors of their home, however, things were different. Sans wasn't just another citizen, but his lone confidant in this place, his brother, his lover; the only one who saw him come undone and didn't judge him for it, never wavering in loyalty and affection.

For four years, Papyrus had that lifeline to Sans, and he would be loathe to leave it. If he were to go to bigger and better places, he would be sure to bring Sans with him. That was a given. He would not leave Sans alone anywhere.

So when the call came in that a human was around and killing Monsters, he immediately set the sentries out in key points that would either find them killed, backed into a trap, or captured. After dismissing everyone, he beelined for Sans, holding his older brother's shoulder tightly.

"Do not let yourself get killed," he said before heading off for the border of Snowdin and Waterfall, not trusting any other Monster to keep the human from getting past.

As he walked, his thoughts turned to Sans, debating on whether or not to go back and bring his brother with him. Although Sans had trained himself up under Papyrus's tutelage in order to be able to hold his own in a fight against other Monsters, this was a HUMAN...creatures that were crazy resilient to magic and able to take down Monsters with ease.

Papyrus's jaw tightened as he recalled his history lessons back in Guard training; Monsters had not always been this way. Monsters were once pacifists with good hearts and fair souls, and it wasn't until near the war's end that they discovered that EXP and LOVE gave Monsters a hefty boost in power. Unfortunately, that matter was discovered far too late to turn the tides of the war, and so they were banished here.

It was King Asgore who encouraged the seizure of EXP and LOVE, building up a stronger breed, a stronger generation of Monsters that, once the souls were gathered to tear the barrier down, could strike back against the humans and finally claim dominion over the world.

Papyrus was inclined to agree on several points, but as someone who looked at the 'big picture' in matters, he was a much more pragmatic thinker. So Monsters are freed and go to the Surface. So they manage to flip the script and strike down the humans. So they become the new dominant race in the world. 'Kill or be killed' was ingrained into the minds and souls of every Monster here, and the destruction of one's innocence was practically a rite of passage.

There could be no world peace without inner peace; a weak, pacifist notion, though not an untrue one. It took several generations to breed the bloodthirsty Monsters, and it would take many generations to undo it, and by then, what even would be the point?

Ugh, he had to stop with these depressing existential inner crises; he had a human to capture! Now how long would it take for someone to find the creature—

The sound of a twig snapping made him turn on heel sharply, forming a magic-infused bone in his right hand as he faced—

….a child.

A small child stepping out from behind a tree, skin pale from the cold and sweater covered in dust, a knife clenched in their small, shaking fist. A curtain of brown hair hid their face almost shyly, like they were too afraid to actually look at what they were killing.

Unbidden, Papyrus couldn't help but be reminded of himself fourteen years ago; ten years old, soul broken, and full of fear and distrust. How many times had he lashed out? Dozens? Scores? Gods, and it had to be a CHILD...

Papyrus had a personal mission statement to not harm children; he had been subjected to fates worse than dusting, and he was loathe to see any child be put to that. Hell, even Undyne, who shared a similar creed with him, was using her Captain rank to put into motion a separate training for children under the age of fourteen as a cover for a childcare program that would double as a means to give kids a fighting chance.

'Kill or be killed' should not apply to children, and yet this small human who wouldn't even come up to Sans's chin, short as he was, was being forced to fight off Monsters who wanted to tear them apart...or worse. Papyrus knew that breed or race didn't matter to the more sick-minded Monsters.

The child was shaking softly, and Papyrus was reminded that they had flesh that was sensitive to the cold, and in this weather, a mere sweater wouldn't cut it. Papyrus frowned, taking a step forward and pausing when the child flinched back and held up the knife, their hand shaking hard.

Hitched breaths broke through the sound of the wind, and Papyrus saw that through the curtain of hair, the human was crying. Their hand was shaking harder, like they were psyching themselves up to attack.

"It's okay."

Even Papyrus was surprised at the softness of his voice as he addressed the child, slowly holding out his hand and lowering himself down to one knee in the snow. "...I will not harm you, child," he said. "I know you are frightened...that your soul hurts with EXP and it makes you want to hurt more...but I will not harm you. I will see to your safety until something can be decided." He held his hand out further.

The child sniffled, the knife hand lowering slightly as they took a shaky step forward. Papyrus let out a soft sigh, thinking that he would have to possibly hide them until he contacted Undyne; most Monsters didn't even know what a human looked like, so perhaps they could get away with disguising the child for awhile, until they could figure out a way to help them, or make a deal for them to send an adult human in their place...

Papyrus's musings took his attention away from the child, who took another step forward, and another—and then they broke into a run, the knife raised up for a strike. Only the glint of light on the knife alerted Papyrus to their intention, but they were far too close now to strike out without getting hit first—

He saw a solid flash of red and a muffled _'shunk'_ paired with a sharp exhale of breath, the odd assortment of reactions in front of him not connecting until he looked up and saw his older brother's expression contorted in pain, eyelights flickering and fading.

There was a long beat of silence, and then Papyrus barely caught Sans as the smaller Skeleton collapsed. Papyrus looked over Sans's shoulder and saw the human child holding the knife in their fist, a look of surprise on their face, their eyes flickering with a brief sense of horror. The back of Sans's jacket was torn, right over the spot where Sans's soul was housed.

Papyrus threw out his hand, using his magic to hurl the human away, scooping Sans up into his arms and bolting as fast as he could, as far as he could manage from that child. His skull was thick with static, and he couldn't feel his legs, as fast as they were going. A convulsion from Sans's small frame snapped him to reality and he skidded to a halt, looking down at his brother.

Sans's eyelights were gone completely, his small hand clutching at Papyrus's scarf almost desperately. Papyrus looked around almost helplessly at the empty clearing they were in, seeing no sign of humans or Monsters anywhere, then looked back down at Sans.

Gods, he looked so small and frail; Sans had always been small and frail, but now...this was something beyond the usual sight of Sans's general weakness. This was true helplessness, a struggle to simply LIVE...

….and he was this way because he took the hit meant for Papyrus.

Sans had saved Papyrus's life.

…..Sans only had 1 HP...

"...you goddamn idiot..." Papyrus said, his voice shaking slightly. "You GODDAMN IDIOT, SANS...!"

Sans just grinned, the expression breaking through his pain like a child having a good dream. "...nah..." he replied, his voice barely above a breath as he turned his head, his empty eye sockets honing in on Papyrus's face. "...I...finally did...it..." His smile twitched, his hand clenching weakly into Papyrus's scarf. "...I...I finally...protected...you..." Red-tinged tears pooled at his eye sockets, dripping down his face. "...I...finally...protected...you..."

"...Sans..." Papyrus reached up, taking Sans's hand in his own, feeling a spike of terror seize up his spine when the hand crumbled in his hold. "Sans! SANS, YOU IDIOT—STAY AWAKE!" He could feel the small body in his arms begin to crumble, Sans's smile remaining determinedly in place. "You're STRONGER than this, Sans! You're STRONGER!" His voice began choking, his body shaking. "Sans, for the love of gods, don't fucking dust! Don't dust, I lo—"

The word died halfway out of his mouth as Sans dusted, leaving behind his jacket and a single gold tooth in Papyrus's hands. The Guardsman stared at the remaining items coated in dust, feeling nothing but numbness all around and within him.

He was alone. Bitterly, cruelly alone.

And it hurt.

His soul had felt only one comparable pain before, and he did the only thing he could, the same as the last time.

He screamed.

And screamed.

And screamed.

Until he couldn't scream anymore.

His face was buried in the dust-covered jacket clutched in his hands as the full weight of reality crushed itself into his bones. His brother...his lover...the ONE GOOD THING IN THIS WRETCHED WORLD...was gone.

Dead.

Taken from him.

By that FUCKING HUMAN.

Papyrus growled so loudly his bones rattled, grinding his sharp teeth together as the numbness of his soul was broken by white-hot HATE.

Hatred for that human that took the ONE GOOD THING away from him, after he had deigned to show them MERCY.

Papyrus pulled himself to his feet, tying the jacket around his shoulders like a cape and clenching the gold tooth in his hand until it began cutting through the leather of his glove, his scarred eye socket filled with the hellfire that burned in his soul. He managed just enough concentration through his blinding hate, forcing his power outward until he found the pulse of the human's soul for him to track down. Not wasting a moment, he sprinted through Snowdin, racing after the trail of that human's soul like a wolf beast with bloodlust blazing in both eye sockets.

THEY WOULDN'T BE LEAVING SNOWDIN ALIVE.

THEY WOULDN'T EVER LEAVE.

THEY WOULD DIE.

HE

WAS

GOING

TO

KILL

THEM

He tracked them making their way for Waterfall, their pulse echoing back to his tracking ability like a beacon. As soon as he saw the very first sign of them in the distance, his soul pounded in his rib cage hard enough for it to hurt, a burst of magic taking him from point A to point B as he swung his arm out and hurled the child into a tree with enough force to hear bones breaking upon impact.

Papyrus skidded to a stop, the snow melting from the sheer amount of magic that was leaking out of his bones; his breath came out in beastlike snarls as he eyed the child on the ground, watching them twitch and struggle to sit up.

He didn't even give them the chance to do so, diving onto the human and slamming their head into the tree, pulling it back, and slamming it in again, hearing a satisfying wet _CRUNCH_ as red stained the snow-covered bark. Still not content, Papyrus held the child by the head and hurled them as hard as he could into another tree, seeing blood splatter across the snow.

_It wasn't enough._

He darted for the body and began tearing it to pieces, slinging limbs and viscera in every direction until there was nothing left to throw.

And then there was silence.

Blessed silence.

Cursed silence.

Silent that was broken by choked sobs wrenching from his soul, twin trails of scalding tears running down his face as he buried it into his bloodstained hands.

Sans...

...his Sans...

...was still gone...

He sobbed into his hands for what seemed like eternity until he heard footsteps in the snow, his head snapping up to see—

The human.

He stared for a long moment before looking down, his hands and the snow before him pristine, the shredded body nowhere in sight. The human was right there in front of him, holding their knife with only the bruise of him having thrown them back before on their cheek.

What was this? How could this BE!? He couldn't have IMAGINED tearing them to pieces! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK WAS THIS!?

The child stepped toward him, the knife poised back to prepare a strike—

Papyrus sent them flying into a tree with a blue attack, summoning a bone into his hand and bolting after them, smacking the knife from their hand and proceeding to mercilessly beat them with the bone, the snow once again being stained red.

It was real.

He was KILLING THEM.

And then he turned and saw them alive again.

And he attacked again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

He didn't know if he was going mad with hatred and grief.

He didn't know if he was suffering from a lucid delusion while his true self was still kneeling on the ground with Sans's coat in his hands.

All he DID know was, real or not, he was going to keep killing this human.

UNTIL THEY WERE DEAD.

He beat them to death.

He tore them to pieces.

He impaled them.

He decapitated them.

He made the death quick with a bone shard through the heart.

Or he made it slow, cutting them open and tearing out their organs piece by piece.

HE

KEPT

KILLING

THEM.

How many times? Dozens? Scores? Hundreds? Either way, his magic hit its limit, and so did his body, kneeling in the snow after tearing their throat out with his claws, his vision blurring before sharpening and the blood vanished, like all the other times before the human would appear again.

And appear they did.

Tentative footfalls approached him, and he looked up, seeing the human staring at him silently. They had not spoken a word through this entire ordeal, having taken his every insult and scream in silence, and the silence only fueled Papyrus's anger.

But even his anger had its limits. All Papyrus could feel was weariness, the empty space in his soul that Sans once occupied growing larger and larger, threatening to swallow him entirely, and by this point...he would welcome it.

He welcomed death.

He stared at the human, and they stared back.

And then they raised the knife...

...and dropped it in the snow.

MERCY

The human was showing him MERCY.

Papyrus looked at the knife, and then back up at the human, seeing a look of remorse and guilt on their face.

He didn't know what to think.

He didn't know what to DO.

Without really thinking, he raised both of his arms out to the human—

—the human walked over, their own arms extended—

—and then they froze, eyes wide and focused ABOVE Papyrus's head, seeing an enormous fanged skull glowering hungrily down at them, both eye sockets blazing with blood-red fire.

Papyrus's own eye sockets glowed with the same fire, slowly raising himself to standing. "...you little pissant fool..." he hissed through his sharp teeth. "...you think you can come here...kill my brother...break my soul to pieces...AND DARE TO SHOW ME MERCY?" He loomed over the child, the growling in his own chest being drowned out by the growling of the monstrosity above his head.

"You took EVERYTHING away from me. He was my EVERYTHING...and now he's GONE." He lifted one hand, clenching it around the tied sleeves of the jacket around his neck before raising his other hand above his head, the jaws of the skull beast parting.

"If you truly wish to redeem yourself...then you wont come back."

There was a blinding beam of light.

And then silence.

Papyrus collapsed in the snow, his eyelights flickering as his soul struggled to stay stabilized against that last use of magic, his vision swimming violently before him...but it didn't sharpen.

The smoking crater in front of him didn't vanish.

And the human didn't appear.

Still, he waited.

And waited.

….and waited...

….until he realized that he was alone...

...and the human wasn't coming back.

Papyrus's shallow breaths formed mist in front of him as the revelation finally settled that the battle was over.

The human was gone, leaving not so much as a soul behind.

And Papyrus was alive.

...and alone.

Red entered Papyrus's vision, and the hot trails running down the track marks on his face told him that he was crying again, and he didn't know if it was from relief or grief, or both. So he just let himself cry until like his magic, so too did his tears run out.

What even was the point now?

The human was gone, but so was their soul.

It didn't matter if he would be either punished or privileged for the deed.

He was alone. He had no brother, no lover, NO ONE to share his future with. And it made him feel...

….empty.

Papyrus looked upward toward what he always knew as 'the sky', seeing nothing but blackness. He recalled a night of simply holding one another with Sans, stupidly recanting their dumbest wishes...Sans said he wanted to see the stars. Such a simple wish, wanting THAT out of ANYTHING in the world...but so stupid.

...so stupid...

Now looking up at the blackness...Papyrus wished that he could see them too.

But he wouldn't ever want to see them without Sans.

Papyrus quietly glanced down in front of him, seeing the knife the human had dropped, and suddenly...there was no more pain. Not even any cold numbness. He quietly reached out and took the knife, turning it in his hands quietly before sighing and closing his eye sockets.

He was no fool...there was no point in even lying to himself.

Life, no matter where it was, was meaningless without Sans there with him.

He brought the tip of the knife to his neck between his C5 and C6, opening his eye sockets to look up at the black void again.

_'I hope your lazy ass waited for me, Sans.'_

.

.

.

**GAME OVER**


	3. Pacifist Route

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this was NOT going to be this long, but then it just expanded out with a mind of its own. Thinking about it, it isn't that bad.  
> The game of Undertale is very short and unfulfilling if you play Genocide Route, much like the previous two chapters; heck, for some, beating Sans took more time than the rest of the gameplay. But if you go Pacifist, you get the whole story, dialogue, and feels, much like this chapter. It's fleshed out, and has a more fulfilling end to it all. So buckle in for this, it's gonna be a ride.

It was an average day for Sans, and even better that it was his day off. So he did what he normally did on his off days before stopping by Grillby's for lunch—visit the door to the Ruins.

It became a routine these days; at least four times a week he would drop by and begin recanting off-color jokes. More than half the time, he would have an audience, a lone woman on the other side of the door who would either egg him on or rebuke him for the bad humor, depending on her state of mind. More recently, she had been on the encouraging side of things, and even picking up a few of the jokes to recant back to him.

Call him a goddamn bleeding heart, but he felt bad for the lady. She told him that she had been completely alone for years, which explained her complete wreck of an emotional state, and that she actually enjoyed his company. He wouldn't lie; he enjoyed her company too. It was nice, talking to someone who couldn't turn around and stab him in the back later, or even throw a hit his way.

He had some mustard and a container of spaghetti packed in the inside pockets of his jacket in case his visit ran longer than normal; they normally did recently, since they sometimes delved off talking about unimportant shit rather than joking.

Sans made his way to the door, catching sight of the bridge across the crevice and paused to disable the deathtrap over it, jerking his head up when he heard a loud, heavy noise a short distance away, ducking behind a pillar before peeking out from behind it. His eyelights constricted when he saw the door to the Ruins slowly opening.

Was she coming out? Was he FINALLY going to see her!? He waited until the door was completely open, and someone stepped out of the dark inside.

…...a child.

They could only BE a child...even at this distance, he could see that they were very small, and wearing a striped sweater, and that they were carrying something in their arms. There was the barest indication that they were speaking, but Sans couldn't catch what was being said before the doors began closing again.

It couldn't have been a CHILD that he had been talking to these past few months! No effing way. He frowned, watching the child get closer and stared with realization of what he was looking at.

A human.

A HUMAN.

IT WAS A HUMAN!

Sans held his breath and ducked back behind the pillar, his skull smarting with a heavy clash of both realization and very uncomfortable deja vu, his soul pounding in his rib cage. What was a HUMAN doing back there?! Oh, stupid question, of course they fell down here, but then what were they doing HERE? On the other side of the door!? Wouldn't they have run into...HER?

Oh gods, what if they killed her!? What if they started killing everyone HERE?!

He snapped out of his internal screeching when he heard footsteps and voices get closer, clamming up and tuning in to listen, noticing that there wasn't just one voice, but rather two.

"...supposed to make it through? You were honestly safer in there with her than out here."

"She wasn't...right in the head...she kept trying to feed me raw bird...I HAD to go."

"Oh, Frisk...out here, you'll BE the raw bird people eat. There's no MERCY out here for you."

"I still have to TRY, Flowey..."

Sans kept his back pressed against the pillar out of sight, hearing them pass right past him...and then pause right on the edge of the bridge.

"...Are you sure it's safe?" one of the voices asked.

"No," the other replied. "But it's the best bet you have."

Sans couldn't take it anymore; a spike of worry for Papyrus—silly as it was, his brother was easily the strongest Monster this side of the Underground—forcing him to straighten his spine and muster up his nerve. If this kid was going to cause trouble, then he was just going to have to stop them.

He stepped out from behind the pillar, seeing just one kid—a real shrimp too, didn't even clear his shoulder height—standing in front of the bridge, their body tense with cold and fear at having heard his footsteps.

"Hey...human..." he said, keeping his guard up for anything the kid be able to throw at him. "Don't you know how to greet a new pal? C'mon, turn around an' shake my hand."

The kid didn't move for several moments, and then their whole body began to shake, and Sans heard quiet, fearful sniffles, as well as a second voice try to quietly hush them. He suddenly felt like kind of a jerk; this was a KID, he remembered. Human or Monster, he dealt with kids differently than he did adults. He'd have to give more than one adult in Snowdin A Bad Time for picking on kids, and he distinctly recalled one incident in which Papyrus found out one of the citizens was abusing his own child...

The screams had been HORRENDOUS, but oh-so satisfying.

After several long moments of very awkward silence, Sans shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "...I'm not gonna stab you in the back, kid," he said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I'm not THAT big of a prick. An' I can promise you, I'm not NEARLY the worst thing you'll walk into. Turn around."

The human audibly gulped before slowly turning around.

In an instant, Sans was bombarded with visions of knives, blood, and broken bones, both his and...someone else's.

Of cold expressions and screaming eyes.

Of red scarves lying abandoned in the snow.

It came and went in an instant, like they weren't even there to begin with, but the sensation left him with frazzled nerves and the urge to start blasting magic everywhere. He would have, too, had he not taken just a moment to give the human another look.

There was no expressionless face and tortured eyes, only a shaken, pale face with tear tracks running from eyes that conveyed nothing but innocence.

The eyes were what gave Sans the extra pause he needed to calm his nerves and put his first instinct on the backburner; he knew those eyes. Not specifically, no, but the clear, innocent spark that he had only seen on one other person...

...before he had snuffed it out himself, but that was an entirely different can of worms he didn't feel like opening.

Still, this was INNOCENCE, the ONE thing he personally vowed to never touch again, would never allow harm to come to if he could help it. Gods, he couldn't in good mind let this kid go out into this hellhole of a place! Snowdin was bad enough, but at least with Papyrus in charge there was a lesser chance of there being a complete mob!

He took a deep breath and let it out, trying to make himself as nonthreatening as possible—difficult to do, considering his filed teeth and discoloration around his eye sockets from his simultaneous on-and-off narcolepsy and insomnia—and kept his hands in his pockets to at least show that they wouldn't be used to hurt them. "...th' name's Sans. Just...surprised seein' someone like you out here...bein' human and all."

The kid's shaking didn't stop any, and they looked on the verge of tears again. Sans took a hesitant step forward, only to jerk back when a vine snapped out from under the kid's arm. "What the fu—"

"L...leave Frisk alone!" the second voice from before piped up, and Sans saw a large yellow flower perk up from underneath the human's arms, where Sans now noticed they were carrying a small child's backpack. A whip-like vine was poised to snap again, but the flower creature's face looked nervous and fearful, the vine trembling slightly.

Sans had another deja vu moment, but it went almost unnoticed as he took his hands out of his pockets and held them up, showing that he wasn't armed—not that he COULDN'T be, but that wasn't the point—and that he wasn't going to be using them for anything. "Ease up there, I wasn't doin' anything." He remained quiet, but the kid didn't stop shaking and the flower didn't ease up. He sighed. "...Look," he said, lowering his hands to put them back into his pockets, "the way I see it, if I was gonna kill you, I'd have done it already. There are plenty of Monsters who would've, anyway."

He glanced around, searching out for any sign of a Monster who might have ventured out. "...In any case, you're a target just bein' out in the open here, and to get ANYWHERE past that door, you have to get through Snowdin and that THIS time of day, you'd be dead where you stand."

Sans paused, then took one hand out of his pocket and held it out. "And if the Monsters don't get you, the cold will. Fleshy Monsters have to bundle up here, and I'm sure humans can't sustain the cold for long." The kid didn't move. "...damned if you do, damned if you don't, kiddo, at least I can promise a painless death if things get outta control."

The human swallowed hard, weighing their options in silence before shifting the weight of the small backpack in their hold to one arm, shakily reaching out to Sans's hand, touching it lightly with a flinch as though expecting to get killed on the spot for it. When that didn't happen, they tucked their hand into Sans's own, squeezing tightly as they nearly collapsed, tears streaming down their face like the relief of having someone NOT try to kill them was too much to bear.

"...hey..." Sans's hand tightened around theirs. "...don't cry..." Wow, this was uncomfortable. He hadn't had to really comfort a child since Papyrus was a small bones. 'Don't cry' didn't seem to be the right thing to say; the child just held his hand and sniffled, shivering in the snow. "...here."

Sans pulled his hand back for a moment, then shrugged off his jacket and put it around the human's shoulders. The living magic his soul gave off had warmed the inside enough to at least make them stop their teeth chattering, and he tied the hood strings in the front so it made something of a cape. "...better?"

The child nodded a little, wiping their damp eyes with a sleeve. "...thank you," they said softly. In their hold, the flower creature's glower dimmed, but Sans knew that the vines were ready and waiting to snap out at any moment. Sans looked around to make sure nobody was spying in, then pulled the hood up over the kid's head.

"Lucky for you, most everyone doesn't know what a human looks like, and my jacket should mask your scent. If anyone asks, you're from the Capitol...but just hope nobody asks." He headed back toward Snowdin, keeping a hand on the kid's shoulder.

The simple gesture spoke volumes to the citizens of Snowdin; plenty of times, even the more willful Monsters who had quarrel with Sans would shut up seeing Papyrus's hand on the smaller Skeleton's shoulder, letting them know that touching Sans would be met with a hefty punishment.

Sans fought down redness in his cheekbones; it was no real secret that he and his brother were 'an item'; even if their house was a bit away, what they did in the bedroom could DEFINITELY be heard if someone walked close enough to the house to hear it. The first—and last—person to comment negatively on it found themselves in an unapproved fight with Sans.

That had been a brutal fight, and Sans had nearly lost another tooth but after the fact, any speculation of favoritism was dashed when Sans was publicly punished by Papyrus and then put on a month of community service.

Hellova time to figure out Sans had an exhibition kink...

_NO, BAD THOUGHTS, THERE IS A CHILD HERE!_

He quelled down any further thoughts that didn't pertain to getting the kid to safety, steering them quickly through Snowdin and to his house, stepping inside and shutting the door, locking it, and then closing out the window curtains. After pausing to make sure there was no sound of someone sniffing around out of curiosity, he turned to ask the kid if they needed the fire in the fireplace stoked.

His question died halfway out his mouth when he saw Papyrus's dog beast—having been named Toby after Sans pestered Papyrus that it NEEDED a name—rolled over onto his back as the kid rubbed its belly.

….what even the hell. Four years with the mutt and Sans still couldn't freely interact with it. He stared at the scene, making sure that Toby wouldn't flip shit on the kid, then sighed, sitting back on the couch, feeling a migraine.

"...you warm enough, kid?" he asked.

"...Frisk."

"What?"

The human peeked up almost shyly. "...my name is Frisk."

Sans was silent for a moment, then nodded. "Alright...Frisk. You warm enough in here? We usually just keep it warm enough to make the beast comfortable."

The kid—Frisk—nodded. "I'm warm enough. Thank you." They sat back, hugging the bag with the flower in it to them.

More awkward silence.

"...you hungry?"

"...no."

"Thirsty?"

"...no."

"Tired?"

"...a little, yeah."

Sans sighed, rubbing his eye sockets. "...you can take a nap if ya want," he said. "Pretty sure your weed and the beast will make sure you're safe." He paused, glancing at the door. "...upstairs, the room on the right. And...just for your own sanity, kid, don't get curious about the room on the left."

Frisk nibbled their lip for a moment before standing up, holding the bag to them tightly as they tentatively walked up the stairs. Sans chose to ignore the not-so-whispered _'you shouldn't really be so trusting'_ from the flower and eyed the dog beast. "Go stay with the kid," he commanded in a much firmer voice than he normally used with it. It seemed to work, since the beast stretched before heading upstairs.

Sans groaned, flopping back on the couch. Oh man, how was he going to spin this with Papyrus?

* * *

He didn't even know that he had dozed off until the front door was busted open through the lock with an extremely loud BANG. He shot up in instant defense mode, the aura of which was snuffed out at once he saw Papyrus standing in the door frame. "Boss—"

"WHERE ARE THEY, SANS!?" Papyrus roared, stalking in and grabbing Sans up by the shirt, hoisting him right off of the floor. Sans yelped and flailed slightly, starting to panic. "WHERE THE FUCK ARE THEY!?"

"They—Boss, let me explain—!" Sans jerked hard when Papyrus took a sharp hold of his soul and squeezed. "BOSS—"

"WHERE. ARE. THEY!?" Papyrus squeezed again, and Sans nearly passed out.

"UPSTAIRS!" he gasped, shaking. "UPSTAIRS IN THE BEDROOM—"

" _MY_ BEDROOM!?" Papyrus's expression went MURDEROUS.

"NO, MY BEDROOM!"

That didn't seem to be the right answer either, when Papyrus threw Sans to the floor by the soul and kicked him in the side. "YOU FUCKING TRAMP!" Papyrus snarled, his eyelights blazing. "HOW MANY FUCKING TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU!?" He used a magic hold on Sans's soul, levitating the smaller Skeleton up. "YOU! ARE! MINE!"

Sans jerked around, yelping. "WHAT are you TALKING about!?" he shouted, getting more and more confused by the moment.

"DON'T PLAY STUPID, SANS!" Papyrus was now close enough to possibly bite Sans's skull in half if he had a mind to. "I have been hearing NOTHING but disgusting GOSSIP about some two-bit WHORE you've been walking with! AND YOU BRING THEM TO OUR HOME!? DO YOU HAVE A DEATH WISH!?"

"WHAT!?" Sans took a half-second to piece A and B together. "...oh my GODS, Papyrus, I haven't been fucking anyone behind your back! And if I HAD, do you REALLY think I'd be fucking STUPID enough to bring them HERE!?" Papyrus snarled. "I SAID 'IF I HAD'!" Sans let out a frustrated and pained groan. "For fuck's sake, Papyrus..."

Papyrus's eyelights flickered as he weighed Sans's words, then released his hold on his brother's soul. "Then WHAT was all that gossip about? AND WHO THE HELL IS IN YOUR ROOM, FOR THAT MATTER!?"

Sans stood up, wincing as he rubbed his bruised rib. "...there...was a kid in the forest..." he said, being honest with at least THAT. "...they were scared and cold, so I gave 'em my jacket...and I couldn't just let them out on their own, and they were tired, so...I let 'em take a nap in my room. Nothin'...like THAT."

The 'THAT' hung between them uncomfortably with a heavy mutual understanding, followed by silence.

"...Papyrus...there's more..." Sans finally said, scratching the back of his skull, hoping to avoid another blowup from his brother. "...the kid I found...they...they were...not a Monster." He sighed. "...they were a human."

Papyrus was silent for a good long moment before he walked over to the door and looked out before shutting it and jamming it shut with a bone. "...you brought a human to this house," he said, his voice deceptively calm.

"...Boss, they were just a kid..." Sans said, his voice pleading. "And...let's face it, most of the people here don't even know what a human LOOKS like...and I kept them under my coat! And it obviously WORKED, since they thought I was takin' someone home—"

"SANS!" Sans clammed up, flinching back. "...Sans. There is a HUMAN. In our HOUSE. In MY house. IN A GUARDSMAN'S HOUSE."

"...OH." Shit, he didn't consider Papyrus's job and reputation in this. "Shit, I'm sorry, I didn't know what else to do—" He trailed off when Papyrus turned toward the stairs. "Wait, what're you doing?"

"I'm getting the human," Papyrus replied, heading up and turning to Sans's room. Sans yelped and scurried after him.

"Pap—Boss—they're just a kid, and they're harmless, I promise—!" he pleaded, almost running into Papyrus when the taller Skeleton stopped short, peering around Papyrus's form and into his room. The blanket was absent from his mattress and instead tied around one of the bars on his window, which had JUST enough space for a small child to squeeze through and rappel down with the blanket. "...ah, son of a—"

Papyrus shoved him aside and ran downstairs, throwing open the door and bolting out with Sans on his heels, albeit much slower considering the length of Papyrus's legs and speed of his stride. Despite his fervor, the pain of Papyrus's earlier tantrum combined with the edge of his 1 HP being damaged slowed him down near the border of Snowdin, leaning against a tree as he caught his breath. "Shit...Paps, please..."

* * *

Papyrus slowed his pursuit as he surveyed the forest, scowling when he saw the mid-day snow mist coming in. That wouldn't do at all, if he was tracking down a human. At least, if what Sans said was still true, the human was wearing Sans's coat, and red would be easy enough to spot in all this white.

He paused briefly to focus magic on the bottoms of his boots to allow him to trek on top of the snow without making noise, keeping his vision sharp for any sign of movement. After several minutes of scouring the area, he caught a subtle hint of Sans's scent in the air. A quick moment of survey told him that Sans was not following, and instead deducted that it must be coming from Sans's coat. He walked slowly through the mist, following the scent until he saw a mass of black trees, and a slight spot of red poking out from behind one of them. He made his way to the tree, keeping silent before stopping in front of it, now hearing something.

"...have to be quiet, Frisk, or they'll hear you!"

There was barely-muffled sniffling and a mumbled response.

"...I know you're worried about that Skeleton, but we have to worry about YOU now! You have to be quiet and get a grip so we can figure something out!"

So there were TWO. Sans didn't mention this. And what was this about one of them worrying about Sans? Papyrus held out his hand and summoned a fence of blue bones around the tree to prevent the human or their compatriot from escaping, stepping around the tree to see what he was dealing with.

The first thing he noticed was that the human was so small they were engulfed in Sans's jacket; secondly, tiny hands were clutched around a small backpack that had an odd large yellow flower poking out of it, which was giving Papyrus a scared but determined glare.

...this was unexpected, especially that flower...thing. Nevertheless.

"Human," he said, seeing the small form flinch hard underneath the hood of the jacket. "Get up." The human didn't move, but instead began shaking harder, the sniffling dissolving into quiet sobbing.

Oh, not THIS...

Papyrus's jaw twitched, standing in place debating for a moment before gesturing sharply, the bones vanishing. The flower had a surprised look in its face, and it ducked down into the backpack slightly as Papyrus stepped forward before kneeling in the snow on one knee.

"Human," Papyrus repeated, lowering his voice and making it less harsh. "I am not going to harm you." He saw the human's hands tighten around the backpack. "...in any case, I am sure at some point, Sans would like his jacket back."

"...y' h't 'm."

"What?" Papyrus said, frowning at the child's muttering.

"...you hurt him."

Papyrus frowned for a moment, then recalled that Sans said the human was sleeping up in his room; they must have been woken up by Papyrus's jealous fit—er, tirade, and then made a quick getaway out the window.

He felt his jaw twitch; quick and inventive little thing. He almost had to smother a smile. But then he recalled that a human child with no idea of how things really worked down here heard him have a tantr—a tirade—and that they naturally thought the absolute worst.

"...He's fine, human," Papyrus said. "He's not SO weak that some smacking around will keep him down...and I know for a fact that he wants to know that you are alright." He lifted one hand and held it out. "...I won't harm you, child. I do not allow harm to come to children."

The human sniffled again, peeking up slightly; Papyrus could see that they were weighing their options and exchanging glances with the flower creature, wondering if it would be worth it to take the chance. Papyrus remained kneeling in the snow, unmoving and keeping his aura as nonthreatening as possible as he waited out their decision-making.

Finally, the child let go of the backpack with one small, shaking hand, and reached out to put it in Papyrus's much larger waiting one.

* * *

It was a blur of small things that melded together into one grand, terrifying ordeal.

Papyrus bringing Frisk back to Snowdin, the younger Skeleton seeing his brother almost break into tears with relief at seeing the small human safe.

The Skeleton brothers keeping Frisk and the flower Flowey in their home for the night, feeding them food Sans brought in from Grillby's since Sans hadn't had time to do any shopping on his day off. After dinner, Frisk fell asleep in front of the fire, wrapped up in Sans's coat and cuddled with the dog beast, being watched over by Flowey, who apparently never slept.

Sans and Papyrus didn't sleep; instead, they stayed awake and spoke at length in hushed tones in Papyrus's room about what they were going to do. They couldn't keep a human here for very long without someone finding out, nor could they find it in their consciences to let the child leave out into the Underground. Giving the kid a weapon wasn't an option; not only did Sans outright refuse to have Frisk gain any kind of EXP, even if it WAS in self-defense, but Papyrus vehemently refused to betray Monsterkind by setting a human out with carte blanch to kill.

Sans ended up telling Papyrus that he would escort the kid to the barrier himself, saying that he wouldn't ask Papyrus to do the same for the sake of his job and standing in the Royal Guard.

"And if they were to CATCH you, Sans? What then?"

"...I'll tell 'em it was my idea, and you weren't involved. Simple as that. I'm not gonna make you choose between me an' the Royal Guard, Papyrus. So I'm choosin' for you."

And that was how Sans kept Frisk by his side out of Snowdin, fighting not to look back to catch a glimpse of his brother, even if it meant it would be the very last look he ever had.

It was so surreal, traveling with an innocent. A PACIFIST innocent, even. Frisk was immovable in their conviction to not allow harm to come to ANYONE. To show kindness before anger. To run rather than fight. At first, Sans wanted to instinctively scoff, laugh, and call the kid a naive idiot.

But he didn't.

Because he began to see results.

Monsters that would lash out would be calmly stiff with curiosity, too intrigued by this 'kindness' to attack. Others that stayed in the shadows would creep out to peer at the echo flowers, listening to the kind words Frisk paused every so often to whisper into with a reverence of someone who had never heard such warm things.

It wasn't long until they ran into literally the LAST person they wanted to.

Undyne.

Without Papyrus there as a buffer, Sans felt that he would have no choice but to fight, but Frisk pulling on his shirt with that pleading expression instead had him picking the kid up and bolting. He was saving his shortcuts for later when he would REALLY need them, and he at least knew a few good places to hide, from the time he spent here on his way to Snowdin after what happened fourteen years ago.

Eventually, though, Undyne caught up with them and began her relentless attacking. Sans was so damn thankful that Frisk was a quick little thing who could dodge and who had Flowey as the eyes behind them. Sans was left on his own to defend until he was pinned down with spears, unable to even shortcut out without something disturbing his HP, forced to watch as Undyne advanced on Frisk.

Frisk was tired and shaking, backed up against a wall with Flowey shouting at Undyne to leave them alone. Sans began shouting too, hurling insults with the hope that Undyne would turn her attention to him and give Frisk a chance to get away, no no avail.

"FOR FUCK'S SAKE!" Sans screeched, his hands clenching tightly. "THEY'RE JUST A KID, UNDYNE! THEY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG! PLEASE!" He wanted to be struck deaf, it killing him to hear Frisk crying and being unable to do anything.

But he watched...and he saw that Undyne was just...standing there.

There was only the sound of Waterfall's namesake and Frisk's crying for what seemed like forever.

And then Undyne vanished her magic spears and stalked away.

Neither Frisk, Flowey, or Sans moved, unable to believe that it just happened, and then Sans tentatively sat up, looked around, and scooted over to Frisk, hugging them to him as they cried into his shirt.

"It's alright, buddy," he said softly. "It's alright. We're okay. We're all okay."

* * *

Nothing about this journey was 'okay'.

There were too many close calls, too many wounds to treat, too many times Sans almost struck Frisk instead of a Monster when the kid would block him from causing harm.

More than once, Sans wanted to give up. He wanted to just ditch the kid and make his way back to Snowdin to help prepare for when Asgore announced that the barrier was gone and everyone was going up in arms to take back their rightful place in the world.

But the only reason why he DIDN'T was because Frisk's methods WORKED.

Time and time again, even among the worst of the worst, it WORKED.

It wasn't just seeing his brother walk back to Snowdin carrying the child carefully and protectively.

It wasn't just seeing Undyne stay her hand when she had her kill right in front of her.

It was seeing that overly-compensating ponce Mettaton burst into tears when Frisk told him that they loved his dancing and showmanship, and that he was a real star.

It was seeing Gaster's old colleague Alphys break through the madness and cruelty bred from working under Gaster and then taking on the responsibility of Head Royal Scientist, and show genuine enthusiasm and being touched when Frisk exclaimed how amazing her inventions were and all the good she could do with her work.

It was seeing Frisk sneak away from him and into a cart full of Monsters to be executed in the middle of the Capitol and free them, whispering to them the escape route that they had taken with Sans to sneak in through here.

It was literally seeing those Monsters' broken souls heal through as they wept with gratitude at Frisk's brave and kind gesture, their eyes dimming in the red color as hope sprung anew.

And Sans felt his own hope rise. He began to believe that they could do this. That he could get Frisk to the barrier and back to safety.

And that hope was shattered when they were caught by the Royal Guard.

* * *

Being in front of King Asgore was a terrifying experience, and he couldn't help but shake until his bones rattled as he was forced to his knees on the cold stone floor in the throne room. Next to him, Frisk clutched the backpack that contained Flowey, who had ducked in and refused to come out for some reason.

Asgore himself sat on the throne, glowering down at them with glowing red eyes as his hand clenched around his trident.

"You were found with the human," Asgore said, addressing Sans, obviously. "So I will ask you this, Skeleton. Were you escorting the human here to personally deliver them to me?"

The odd question gave Sans pause until he realized that Asgore was giving him an out; that this was a rare pardon for having the seventh soul delivered.

He could do it. He could say yes and be spared, go back home to Papyrus without resorting to his first plan of taking all the blame. He could get off scot-free.

Sans glanced over at Frisk, whose expression was neutral, their eyes glinting with unshed tears...but had an air of...determination. They were not looking pleading or scared, just...accepting.

They didn't expect Sans to say anything, or to accept any blame, or—

"No."

He almost had to look around to see who spoke, but he realized HE had spoken. Even the Guards looked astonished and Asgore's brow furrowed.

"...'no'?" Asgore said, the grip on his weapon tightening. "...would you care to elaborate?"

"...Sans..." Frisk murmured, but Sans tuned them out; he already stuck the shovel in the dirt, he might as well finish digging his grave.

"No, I wasn't bringing them here to YOU. I was taking them to the barrier so they can go home."

This time, EVERYONE shared in the stunned silence, and Sans could feel his skull sweating up a storm. Oh, he was thoroughly FUCKED. He fought to hold back a flinch when Asgore stood to his full height and glowered down at him.

"You are speaking of treason, Skeleton," he rumbled. "Treason seven-fold, considering the human is the seventh soul we need—"

"To, pus-spewing, blood-gutted fucking HELL with the GODSDAMNED SOULS!" Sans shouted, his left eyelight flaring. "And to HELL with YOU, if you touch ONE HAIR ON THAT INNOCENT KID'S HEAD, YOU INSANE MEGALOMANIAC!"

A sharp bone burst from the floor that cut right through his binds behind his back, summoning two Blasters and firing them at the Guards in the room before grabbing Frisk and bolting for the exit, too tired to successfully make a shortcut that wouldn't land them in the middle of a pack of Guards or something worse.

A wall of fire appeared at the exit, and Sans skidded to a halt, holding Frisk tighter as he edged away from Asgore, who closed in on them.

"You will be given ONE more chance, Skeleton!" Asgore growled, his eyes blazing. "Hand over the human now, and instead of execution, I will instead banish you to be kept here rather than join your race on the Surface." He held out his hand, only to jerk it back when a sharp bone pierced it right through.

"Over my dust pile!" Sans snapped, forming several Blasters at once and firing them, knowing that his magic attacks did minimal damage, but it still took more magic to summon physical attacks. All he needed as a distraction, just enough to focus on getting Frisk, somewhere safe—

"SANS, LOOK OUT!" Frisk's scream pierced through his musings, just in time for him to avoid getting speared through and instead got thrown back into a wall from the aftershock of the blow. He managed to turn his body at the last moment to avoid having Frisk take the brunt of the blow, but got the wind and fight knocked out of him. His HP had come dangerously close to being broken, and he was certain he wouldn't be able to take another hit like that.

"Kid, you gotta run," he said lowly, keeping his eyelights on Asgore. "When he hits me, you gotta run! If you can get to the barrier—"

"No!" Frisk wailed, clinging to him tightly with one arm. "I'm NOT leaving you!"

"GodsDAMN it, kid, now is NOT the time—!" Sans's eyelights shrunk to pinpricks when he saw Asgore raise his trident, and covered Frisk's body with his own to shield them from the blow—

...which never came.

Instead, he heard a loud clatter of weapon meeting weapon and glanced back, his eyelights flickering when he saw the familiar form of his brother standing in front of them, having formed a bone spear to block Asgore's blow and was—amazingly enough—evenly competing in strength.

"Paps—"

"GET OUT OF HERE, SANS!" Papyrus shouted, keeping his spear angled in the prongs of the trident to keep it from being able to be withdrawn. "TAKE THE CHILD AND GET OUT!" He threw out one hand to hold Asgore's soul for a split second and throw him back a short distance, hardly able to compete much with a Boss Monster, let alone the King. "GET YOUR ASS MOVING!"

"Pap...I'm not gonna...I'm...!" Sans's body shook, his eye sockets brimming with tears, stressed and worried out of his skull and not knowing which instinct to obey—the one that told him to obey his Boss, or the one that told him to stay with his brother. The sight of Papyrus being struck by a ball of fire magic cemented it, forcing his magic outward to teleport to his brother, grab him, and teleport back to the kid, who looked too frightened to do anything except clutch the backpack.

Papyrus sat up, growling. "I told you to RUN, you ass!" he hissed. "Of ALL the times for you to be a disobedient—"

"Papyrus? Shut the fuck up." Sans's left eyelight blazed, fighting through his magical exhaustion to remain burning. "If you think for one fucking second I'm letting my brother get hurt, you've got another thing coming!" He grabbed both Papyrus and Frisk, teleporting away from another fire attack, visibly sweating from his exertion.

"You cannot keep this up, you idiot!" Papyrus snapped, forming another bone spear in his hand. "The barrier is two halls over! Get them out of here!"

Sans growled, grabbing Papyrus's armor and shaking him. "I AM NOT LEAVING YOU! NOT AGAIN!" He teleported Papyrus and Frisk away again, letting them go to brace himself up on the floor with shaking arms. "Not...not again...can't..."

"Sans, you idiot, stop it! Your body can't take anymore of this!" Papyrus, snatched the two smaller forms and bolted out of the way of another attack. "I CAN HANDLE THIS, SANS! YOU STARTED THIS, YOU FINISH IT!" He swept his arm out, sending dozens of bones at Asgore. "I can clear you a path, but when I do, you and the human GET MOVING! Do you hear me!?"

Frisk nodded, their face white with terror, and Sans clenched his hands tightly, his breath rattling louder than his bones. Papyrus clasped his hand into Sans's shoulder tightly. "In any case, we'll both be dead," he said grimly. "We might as well make our deaths MEAN something. Now pull yourself together and GO on my command, do you understand me, Sans!?"

Sans roughly wiped his face free of sweat and tears, nodding and taking Frisk's arm tightly, bracing himself for Papyrus's command. Papyrus crouched down, ready to make the clear path for them—

Only for several spears to fly in out of nowhere and stop everyone in their tracks.

Undyne ran into the throne room, surveying the situation and looking oddly troubled by it. Asgore recovered first, letting out a rumbling growl.

"Captain Undyne, assist me in destroying these traitors!" he commanded, gesturing to the trio huddled back on the other side of the room. Undyne glanced over, her hands clenching by her sides when she saw Papyrus, who was situated so he was covering the two smaller forms, his bone spear still poised to strike in his hands. The two Guards stared at one another, a silent but fierce conversation flying between them, personal beliefs and scruples coming into play until Undyne formed a spear in her hand and walked over to them.

Asgore looked almost pleased, until Undyne came to a stop in front of Papyrus and turned to face Asgore, raising her spear and pointing it to him. "I swore an oath to never harm an innocent," she proclaimed. "This may be a human, but they are a human who has committed no wrong and is free of sin. I have witnessed nothing but kindness from them, and so I cannot, in good judgement, arrest, harm, or kill them for a crime they did not commit."

Behind her and Papyrus, Sans slumped to the floor, letting out an almost choked sob of relief. Frisk hugged the backpack to them tighter, giving Undyne a pure look of gratitude and thanks. Asgore's expression darkened, several orbs of fire appearing around him.

"You have made a grave mistake, Undyne," he hissed, raising his trident and making a dash for the group before him, only to be unceremoniously drop-kicked away by yet another new arrival.

Mettaton landed in front of the group on his golden stilettos, all four of his arms raised in a defensive stance as he narrowed his eyes at Asgore. "I am more than prepared to offer my defense to this human!" he stated. "I am more than just molten metal and gold, and I am ready to PROVE it if you take ONE MORE STEP toward that beautiful star!" As he spoke, his metal plating began shifting, reforming him into something much more battle-worthy.

"METTATON, STOP!"

Alphys came running in, looking horribly out of breath and frightened. "METTATON, I DIDN'T DESIGN YOUR BATTLE FORM TO FIGHT KING ASGORE! HE'LL TEAR YOU TO PIECES!"

Mettaton shifted his top two arms into cannons, his soul pulsing in its casing. "He can TRY, Alphys darling," he replied, his eyes glinting. "But I will NOT let him lay one filthy claw on that child!" He shot a sharp glance back at Undyne. "Protect Alphys, Captain, if you please." That said, he bolted forward, kicking Asgore to the other side of the room and firing his cannons.

"METTATON, PLEASE!" Alphys cried, trying to rush forward only to be held back by Undyne. "HE'LL KILL YOU! PLEASE!"

Undyne kept a tight hold on Alphys, looking back at Papyrus. "Papyrus, take the kid and run!" she snapped. "To the barrier, to the Ruins—ANYWHERE but here!" Papyrus gave her a nod and scooped Sans and Frisk up, hurrying for the door to the other hall while the King was preoccupied with Mettaton.

Frisk cried and struggled in his hold, wailing that they didn't want Mettaton to get hurt because of them—that they didn't want ANYONE to hurt because of them—and began begging for everything to stop.

And with an explosion of a hellfire inferno, everything DID.

When the smoke cleared, Frisk coughed, looking around, feeling a hot haze fog their vision slightly.

Papyrus was covering Sans tightly, the back of his armor almost melted and the back of his skull nearly scorched.

Sans's eyelights were flickering like a dying light as he fought to retain consciousness.

Undyne had covered Alphys, her armor in much the same as Papyrus's condition and her hair filaments scorched at the ends.

Alphys's lab coat was burned, her glasses shattered and her scales looking burned as well.

Mettaton was in pieces on the floor, his soul flickering in its casing.

And Asgore stood over him, emitting a searing aura as he raised his trident to perform a finishing blow.

"STOP!"

Frisk leaped to their feet, their fists clenched and jaw set in a DETERMINED line. Asgore looked over at Frisk, his trident still poised for attack, and Frisk slowly set the backpack down, taking a step forward.

"...no more," they said, their voice soft but firm with conviction. "...no more hurting...please." They paused for a beat, then raised their arms to the side in a motion of offering. "...you can have my soul...if you please don't hurt them anymore."

Asgore slowly lowered his trident, eyeing Frisk critically as though deciding if this was an elaborate ruse or not.

"Kid..." Sans groaned, reaching out weakly. "...don't...we're...not worth it..."

"You made it this far, human..." Papyrus added, struggling to raise himself off of the floor. "...don't let...all of this be in vain..."

"Don't be a fucking hero," Undyne hissed, her singed fins twitching weakly. "...we don't NEED one...!"

"After everything...you deserve to go back and be happy..." Alphys whimpered, curling up on herself.

"Y...you're...better than us, d-darling..." Mettaton stammered, his voice glitching out. "L-LET Asgore w-wait for an-nother soul...!"

"STOP it!" Frisk cried, sniffling loudly, tears running down their face. "You ARE worth it! You ALL deserve happiness! And...and if it'll stop all the pain, and...and all the HURTING...then...then I'M not worth ALL of that!" They reached up and wiped their eyes before giving Asgore a watery smile. "...so...if my soul is the last one, there's no point in killing anyone else! You're all free then. You can ALL be happy."

There was nothing but silence, but everyone could see Asgore's hands shaking slightly for the briefest moment before they tightened around the trident.

"...a noble sacrifice," he said lowly, the fiery glow of his eyes having dimmed slightly. "And one that will not be in vain for Monsterkind." He raised his trident. "Human. Goodbye."

Frisk closed their eyes, mentally bracing themselves for the blow and trying to tune out the many voices that were calling for MERCY.

There was a searing blaze of fire that Frisk felt, but not aimed at THEM, but at Asgore, if the loud yelp coming from in front of them were any indication. Their eyes snapped open, seeing Asgore on the floor several feet away with his trident clattered to the ground next to him.

"NOT MY CHILD!" came the unhinged voice of Toriel as she ran into the throne room, looking as wild as ever, even more so now that she was out of her solitude in the Ruins and among other Monsters. "NOT AGAIN, YOU PATHETIC WHELP! YOU WILL NOT TAKE ANOTHER CHILD AWAY FROM ME!" Her hands blazed with fire magic, a similar wildfire glowing in her eyes.

Frisk ducked down as Toriel ran past them and began clawing and punching at Asgore, screeching incomprehensibly as he struggled to keep her claws out of his body, already his armor having deep rents from her blows.

"TORIEL, I'VE TOLD YOU!" he cried, sounding more anguished than angry. "THESE SACRIFICES ARE NECESSARY! WE _NEEDED_ THOSE SOULS TO BE FREE!" He grabbed her wrists and pushed her back, then jerked his head back when she snapped at him with her teeth.

"THEY WERE MY BABIES!" she wailed. "THEY WERE ALL MY BABIES AND YOU KILLED THEM! YOU DESERVE TO ROT DOWN HERE FOR ALL ETERNITY FOR KILLING MY CHILDREN!" She jerked her wrists free and slammed her fist into his face before lobbing fireballs at his body. And to the amazement of everyone else...he didn't raise his hand to attack back, nor did he make a grab for his trident to defend himself.

Toriel screeched again, grabbing his body and hurling it across the room before bending down and grabbing his trident. "Why not let YOUR soul be the seventh, Asgore!?" she hissed, her eyes wild and blind with rage. "It would be FITTING, don't you think!?" She raised her trident for a blow, and stopped just short of spearing Frisk through when the child threw themselves over Asgore's form.

"NO!" Frisk cried, eyes clenched shut and shaking. "NO, please...no more...no more no more no more no more no more...!"

Asgore's trident clattered to the floor, Toriel dropping to her knees and pressing her hands to her mouth. "...I almost killed my baby..." she whispered in horror, tears streaming down her face. "Oh no, my child, Mommy's so sorry...! I never meant to hurt you!"

Frisk began crying harder, their sobs broken and heartbreaking, like the determination and hope that they had struggled for so long to carry was becoming too much of a load to bear anymore as they kept repeating 'no more' over and over, the horrible insinuation being, to those who were lucid enough to hear, that they would rather just die than keep experiencing all of this bloodshed and hate.

Sans's eye sockets began flooding over with tears, having experienced the very same feeling before, and was experiencing it again. Was this all that there was? Just bloodshed and hate? Broken souls and irredeemable lives? And what IF they went to the Surface? It would be the same shit over and over again, of killing and continuing that hellish cycle full circle.

He let out a choked sob, not caring about any repercussions as he curled his arms around Papyrus and held on tightly. Whether they were killed here, or were killed on the Surface with that stupid plan of attack Asgore had against the humans, it didn't matter. All he wanted to for it all to END...to have a happy ending, for ONCE in his gods-forsaken life, with Papyrus.

Papyrus stiffened in his hold, and then quietly leaned into the embrace, leaning against his older brother tiredly, his aura feeling fourteen years younger and twice as vulnerable. It was the kind of aura that Sans would kill for and die for, if it meant it would be saved and sheltered, and Sans knew that Papyrus was just as tired as he was.

Across the hall, Alphys was being hovered over by Undyne as she scrambled to keep Mettaton's soul alive, silently fretting over the mech's ruined state and doing obsessive calculations of how long Mettaton would have if the soul stabilization components fizzled out. Undyne looked between Alphys's worry over Mettaton, and over at Papyrus, feeling the same worry over the closest thing she had to a friend as she had an internal existential crisis.

What even WAS all this for? An innocent child offering their life for Monsters who only wanted them dead went against everything she had ever been taught to believe. What else was wrong? Was all that training going to be worthless if they all went to the Surface? Was she expected to slaughter innocents while defending the worst her own race had to offer?

No.

She wouldn't do that.

She'd defend a human innocent over a corrupt Monster ANY day.

Frisk lifted their head, wiping their face with the sleeve of Sans's coat. "...please," they said, sounding exhausted but more calm now that they got their tears out. "...please, no more fighting. There's...too much bad in the world as it is. Being here...I learned that all of you want to go up there...but...why would you go up there and still be mean and miserable, rather than be nice and happy?"

They sniffled, wiping at their eyes again. "...I want a Mom...and a Dad...and friends...things I didn't have when I was up there...but if...I can't have them here either...then at least...wouldn't my soul do SOMETHING good?"

There was silence in the throne room for the longest time, and then it was broken when Asgore gently put his hand on Frisk's back.

"...you are right, human," he said quietly, his voice sounding as broken as his body. "...it WOULD do good...but...at what cost...?" His breath hitched slightly. "...My own little boy was killed by humans...and I couldn't take the pain of having him along with EVERYTHING ELSE taken away. I made...everyone...my family...my friends...all of my subjects...just as twisted and broken as I was...and for WHAT? It didn't bring my son back, and it never will!"

"...no...it wouldn't..." Frisk said quietly, glancing over at the backpack that was still over by the Skeleton brothers. "...hate wouldn't bring him back...but..." They trailed off quietly when Flowey poked out of the backpack, sniffling softly. "...but love can do a lot. Not LOVE...but love...enough to...make good, amazing things happen..."

They wiped their eyes, smiling. "So...I know that if you really try...everyone will be happy. The other Monsters...they're just scared and hurt...if you're kind, they'll be kind too...and...and there are lots of kids like me who...who need a Mom...and people who need protecting because they're...too weak to protect themselves...and people who need cool inventions and stars to look up to when they feel bad..." The tears came heavier, the smile struggling to stay on their face.

"I...don't want to die, but...please...if...if it'll make everything okay...if...it'll make everyone h-happy...then...then take my soul and give everyone...something to hope for...!" They buried their face into their hands, muffling their crying as best they could.

There was a long, painful silence, and then Asgore quietly stood up, walking to a door in the back of the throne room.

"...I will be at the barrier," he said lowly, looking down at Frisk. "When you...and only you...choose what to do...inform me. Either way, I will respect your decision." He walked out of the room, leaving his weapon behind him.

More heavy silence.

"...hey...kiddo..." Sans's voice spoke up, sounding pained. "...you can't...really be thinkin' about dyin' like that, right?" His smile twitched, his arms tightening around Papyrus. "...you can go home. He's...I really think he'd let ya go..."

Frisk pulled Sans's coat tighter around them, sniffling. "...I don't have...a home to go back to..." they said softly. "No home...no mom or dad...brothers or sisters...no friends..." They looked up, eyes glimmering with tears. "...I didn't feel like I had any kind of future or purpose...so I fell down that hole to die...but I didn't. THIS...is my purpose. So YOU can have a future."

"...shit, kid..." Undyne muttered, her magic shimmering on her burnt skin as it worked to heal her. "...sinners like us...don't deserve a saint like you."

"I'm not—"

"You ARE!" Sans snapped, wiping angrily at his eye sockets. "You're a fuckin' SAINT, kid...a goddamn ANGEL that's got no place in this hellhole!" He lowered his head, eyelights dimming. "...Go through the barrier, kid. Use that love for somethin' worth givin' it to." He raised his hand, Frisk's backpack levitating up and over to them.

Frisk took it, quietly lifting the flap to peek down at Flowey, who was looking out and giving Toriel a sad, longing look. Toriel was still kneeling in place, looking like she wasn't able to process that her child was flinging themselves into death, like the last piece of her broken heart was shattering. Frisk wiped their eyes and gently held out the backpack.

"...Mom...?" they said softly, seeing Toriel's eyes flicker slightly. "...This...this is Flowey...he...needs a mom too. Someone to love...and read stories...and eat pie...he...needs a family. And...you need someone to love too. Someone to take care of." They smiled softly. "...Can you...take care of him for me?"

Toriel's hands slowly raised and took the backpack, pulling it close to her as Flowey poked out of it, hardly able to contain himself from nesting into her fur with all the closeness he'd been wanting for so long. Frisk smiled brighter, stepping back and looking around at the other five in the room.

"...all of you...can do better," they said. "I know you can. You're all good people...I know you are."

Before anyone could say anything else, Frisk turned and walked out of the room.

And everything felt so much colder without them there.

Papyrus struggled to stand, only to keep collapsing back into Sans's arms, wanting to make it to Frisk before anything happened, wanting to keep them from harm. Sans kept his hold on Papyrus, not wanting to lose anyone else after today, wishing that it would all end.

There was nothing for the longest time.

And then it felt like the very air harmlessly exploded before exhaling a breath of fresh air.

Literal fresh air.

The barrier was gone.

And yet, nobody could find the will to care.

Sans slumped to the floor, holding Papyrus tightly to him and feeling like he could never summon the will to get up again. He was so tired, felt so weak, and the only thing keeping him from dusting out of sheer lack of will at all was his brother, who didn't look all that much livelier either.

Everything everyone worked towards in this place had been achieved...but at what cost? And why did the cost seem too high, for one person over the freedom of an entire race? Sans would have chosen for the kid to live, any day. And judging from the expressions on everyone else's faces, he could guess they thought the same thing.

Everyone remained in stoic, respectful silence for the longest time, and then they heard the heavy footfalls of Asgore approaching. Sans looked up, even though he really didn't want to see the kid's dead body, and stifled a sob when he saw Asgore walk in with Frisk in his arms, the small human still and quiet.

It wasn't worth it, it wasn't worth it, IT WASN'T WORTH IT—!

Toriel let out a loud sobbing growl when she saw Frisk's still body, and Asgore quietly shushed her. "They just need rest, Toriel," he said softly. "Whatever they did...whatever they HAD...drained them."

Wait, what?

Sans and Papyrus spared a look at one another before Sans teleported over with his brother still in his arms, looking at the child in Asgore's hold. Plain as could be, they were still alive and breathing, just looking pale and worn out.

"Holy shit, Paps...they're alive...!" Sans choked out, edging toward hysterics. "They're alive, oh GODS...!"

"...how in the world...?" Papyrus muttered, wincing as he sat up to look, ignoring the others who were hurrying over.

"I do not know," Asgore said, lowering Frisk down so Toriel and Flowey could see and make sure for themselves. "We were at the barrier, and the souls were all there...and at the child's presence, the souls broke free of their containers and...the barrier was gone. The souls were gone too, but...they were alive. I can't explain it."

"...it doesn't need an explanation," Flowey said, nudging a leaf against his face. "...Frisk is alive and the barrier is gone too...it's the best thing ever...!"

Frisk shifted in Asgore's hold, their eyes fluttering open. "...am...I in Heaven now...?" they murmured quietly. Sans couldn't withhold a loud snort.

"Heh, kid, if this is Heaven, then I'd hate to see what sort of shit that falls off Hell's radar," he laughed, ignoring Papyrus's scathing look. Next to him, Toriel stared, eyes widening.

"...that voice...I know that voice..." she said, her voice sounding clearer than ever. "...you made all of those jokes through the door! And your humor is still not fit for childrens' ears!"

Sans's cheekbones dusted with red. "...heh...yeah..." He looked over Toriel closely for the first time. "...Nice to...finally meet ya...even though I was saving a real zinger about a dead horse—"

"Noooo, Sans...that one's terrible..." Frisk whined before settling down, rubbing their eyes. "...it's gone now."

"Yeah, it is, kid," Sans said, smiling. "You did good." He sat back, rubbing his skull. "...dunno...what to do now, 'tibia' honest."

Papyrus groaned. "Sans, that was more terrible than usual." He didn't comment further, considering it seemed to lift the child's spirits a little. "...but he's right."

"...It'd be a mistake to just let everyone out," Undyne said quietly. "...things...have to change HERE before they change out there." She lowered her head a little in some form of respect to Asgore. "...Perhaps...a new ordinance will help ease things over."

Asgore nodded. "You are correct." He looked down at Frisk. "It...will take a good while for this to work...so no more blood is shed."

Frisk gave him a smile. "...I'll help. I promise." They looked around at everyone else. "...do...you want to see it?"

There was stunned silence for several long moments.

"...I...I have to make sure Mettaton is stable," Alphys said. "I...can't really miss what I've never seen just yet, right? I can wait."

"...I'll help Alphys back to her lab," Undyne said, giving the scientist a half-smile. "Doubt she can lift that bucket of bolts anyway." She knelt down and picked Mettaton's torso up, ignoring the mech's indignation at the 'bucket of bolts' comment, and walked out with Alphys, whose face was an odd shade of red.

Sans shifted Papyrus's weight so he could help his younger brother stand. "...we've got nothin' better to do," he said. Papyrus nodded, and the six of them quietly walked out of the throne room and to where the barrier once stood, and there was only a tunnel that led upward. They walked through, feeling a cool, fresh breeze on their faces as they exited the tunnel to the other side of the mountain overlooking a large valley.

It wasn't the valley that Sans was looking at, though. He was looking upward, seeing thousands of glittering lights in the sky that framed the curved crescent of the moon. And it seemed to spread out in every direction forever.

Indescribable.

Papyrus couldn't help but take large—albeit unnecessary—breaths of the fresh air, smelling earth and pine and just AIR that wasn't stale or permeated in blood and dust, almost feeling like the damage done to his HP was melting off at how ALIVE it made him feel. He glanced down at Sans, seeing his older brother staring up at the sky with huge eyelights that were glimmering brightly, his smile just as bright.

He looked around on every side, seeing nothing but sky and valley, everything alive and clear and expansive enough for settlement.

He couldn't let this turn out like the Underground.

He WOULDN'T.

Papyrus sat back on the ground, too tired to do anything but nap under the clear sky, and Sans plopped down in his lap, his eyes having never left the sky for a moment, and without even thinking about it, curled his arms around his older brother and held him tightly, feeling better, happier, and safer than he had since he was a small bones, and just hoped it would all still be here when he opened his eyes in the morning.

Sans felt his brother still and relax, and knew Papyrus had fallen asleep. Figuring with all the work it would be taking for this new ordinance to work he wouldn't get another chance anytime soon, he snuggled back against Papyrus. As he kept his eyes to the stars and enjoyed the closeness, he felt safe and happy and hopeful for the first time in forever about the future he could have now with Papyrus.

It wasn't going to be 'kill or be killed' anymore.

Finally.

.........Finally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading! I hope you all enjoyed the very end of my Underfell story!  
> A couple things that are part of my headcanon for this story:  
> Chara does not exist in this universe. All of the bad aura and magic in Underfell does bad things to anyone who gains EXP or LOVE, and Frisk killing Toriel in the Genocide Routes had a much worse effect than it normally would in the Underfell universe.  
> The first child that fell was adopted and loved, and it was that child AND Asriel's mutual plan to combine souls and go get the others on the other side of the barrier. However, in the end, neither could bring themselves to kill another human once they reached the village. You know what happens next.  
> Asgore didn't really encourage the whole 'freely gain EXP' thing as law until after he watched Asriel dust after coming back from being beaten by the humans. After that, he actively encouraged it.  
> Toriel didn't leave Asgore for the Ruins until after he killed the second child that fell, unable to handle the loss of her son, her first adopted child, AND the state of horror that the Underground had become. She kept trying to keep her children safe, only to break more and more with every sign that they were dead.  
> Asriel came back as Flowey, but retained his innocence and dedicated his life to trying to help his fallen 'brothers and sisters' out, always to no avail.  
> In the end, it wasn't DETERMINATION that was needed, it was love, the one thing that could combat everything that Underfell became.
> 
> Hope that clears some stuff up for you!


	4. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It kind of occurred to me that some who read this story might not have read the epilogue that was requested in my Prompts stories, and it's taken me WAAAAAAAY too long to bring it over to this story where it belongs.

 

The progress was slow; tediously, almost painfully slow.  The Barrier was gone, and Monsters everywhere felt the scent of freedom wash over them. 

It was hard, keeping the Monsters at bay to keep from barreling out of the Underground and up to the Surface, but Asgore made sure he had everyone's attention before announcing his intentions; that there was to be no more bloodshed, no more violence, and certainly, no more genocide against humans.  They were free, and he was not going to risk another war that may slaughter them all for good. 

Naturally, many Monsters were not happy with this news.  For most, all of their lives had revolved around the creed of 'kill or be killed', and now they were suddenly expected to be PEACEFUL?  There was talk of anarchy, of attacking any nearby human villages and killing them all, but Undyne and Papyrus put a stop to that VERY quickly.  They had both witnessed the power that kindness and love--the REAL love--could bring, and didn't want ANYTHING to ruin that for them.  They had reasons to live, reasons to keep this peace, and if they had to thin out the numbers so those who WANTED this chance could have it, then so be it.

It passed like a blur, endless and tireless until everyone involved in the peacekeeping was ready to collapse and sleep until they couldn't sleep anymore, but a settlement at the base of the mountain had been established and at last, with most of the remaining Royal Guard and some volunteers assisting, the Alpha group could rest.

Sans and Papyrus holed up in a small lean-to house, instinctively taking on-and-off sleep/watch cycles, despite there being not so much as an aura of anger around their temporary home.  Still, every day, Sans would wake up to find himself almost cocooned by Papyrus's larger frame, a sharp bone construct in the younger brother's hand and their dog beast sleeping in front of the door as a first defense watch.  Sans missed their home back in Snowdin, and not just for all the extra room.  It was safe, it was familiar...

...but looking out the window at night and seeing the stars was worth the chance of maybe getting shived in his sleep at night. 

Slowly, the small lean-tos and shelters became houses, and settlement areas expanded after careful negotiations with the more genial humans.  It was decided that the mountain range and the valley would belong to the Monsters to settle, which was fine for everyone.  The taller mountains had snow for the colder-blooded Monsters, the valley had a large lake for the aquatic Monsters, and there was plenty of room for anyone to find a spot and settle.

Some Monsters elected to travel outward, hoping to see more of the world and improve relations with humans, which bridged the gap even closer.  Things like entertainment and science became conjoined with their racial counterparts and jobs were created on either side for the other.  Mettaton became an instant success in the human world, becoming a dazzling star just like Frisk told him he could be.  Alphys became renowned for her work and began working with human scientists to better the fields of energy conservation and engineering.  

Undyne remained a Guard, not for Monster-kind, but rather for keeping the peace between humans and Monsters.  Neither race dared to show aggression when she was around, for neither would be shown MERCY if a hand was raised.  When she was off-duty, however, she allowed herself to relax and explore her gentler side, taking up cooking as a hobby and establishing a relationship with Alphys, as well as forming a PROPER friendship with Papyrus instead of a rivalry truce.

Toriel kept Flowey in her care, even going so far as to create a saddle-bag for him so he could be carried around always.  She had been so saddened to find out how many orphaned, abandoned, or abused children there had been in the Underground, and set up an orphanage so she could care for them all.  Slowly, the number of children that still had clear, unbroken eyes grew under her care as they were sheltered, fed, schooled, and loved.

Asgore hardly considered himself a 'King' anymore, especially when he finally let go of his hate and anger.  Hardly anyone recognized the former King by aura anymore as he kept mostly to himself when not going about Monster-Human relation duties.  He took up his old hobby with gardening, dedicating himself to helping life flourish instead of taking it away, and beautifying the valley little by little.

Sans and Papyrus still lived together, but both felt their established relationship begin to simmer down and fade away as they began building their new lives.  Sans had begun feeling something of a small crush with the mysterious lady behind the stone door, and it only grew once they were always within sight of each other.  He liked visiting Toriel in her orphanage, playing with the kids, and watching the former Queen heal as she was in her element as a mother and teacher.  Eventually, he didn't even need a reason to go visit except for the fact that he liked the kids, he liked HER, and he wanted to BE with her.

It was difficult; after four years of being his brother's lover, it was HARD imagining life without that.  It was even harder finding a way to bring it up.  Papyrus was always busy now, primarily being the personal guard and guardian to Frisk, who wanted to stay with the Skeleton brothers after everything.  They had fallen down into the Underground because they had no family, friends, or anyone to love them, and felt so much pain with all the love they had to give and no one to share it with.  Sans found it sad, but knew it was best this way.  Frisk's love and kindness did wonders for Papyrus, whose soul seemed more broken than most anyone Sans knew.

Rather than 'guard', Papyrus seemed to be a full-time father to Frisk, doing everything within his power to make sure they were safe, fed, and happy.  Sans would see how happy Frisk was, especially when Papyrus would drop everything to help with something, or read Frisk a story, or take out time to play with Frisk, but would also see how slightly distanced Papyrus was.  He wasn't surprised.  Papyrus nearly had a panic attack when Frisk called him 'Dad' once, and even he almost had a horrible flashback to his own 'dad'.  Papyrus couldn't bear to see himself as a father because of how absolutely bastardly his own was.

Sans leaned against the wall as he watched Papyrus put the book he had read to Frisk back on the shelf and shut the door after putting Frisk to bed, recalling the sight of Papyrus screaming into a pillow earlier after Frisk had called him 'Dad' that day.  He fidgeted for a moment before looking up.

"Hey...can we talk?"

Papyrus looked so TIRED, he noticed.  Just so TIRED and wanting a drink, but Papyrus nodded and the two walked into the kitchen, where Sans pulled out a couple of beers and cracked them open, passing Papyrus one as they both sat down at the table.  Silence settled between them for awhile before Sans spoke up.

"...you're not HIM, Papyrus," he said softly but firmly.  Papyrus's hands clenched around the bottle, his jaw tight.

"I'm no better."

"You're LEAGUES better.  Y'think Gaster ever read ME a bedtime story?  Ever helped with my homework, or payed any kind of GOOD attention to me?"  Sans tipped the bottle back, taking a swig of beer before lowering it.  "We had a fucked up childhood, Papyrus.  We lived in a fucked-up world, had a fucked-up father, and got fucked up ourselves, but SHIT, we are BETTER than that!"  He gave Papyrus a soft look.  "...YOU are better than that.  You have a code of honor, Papyrus...something he never had.  You don't have a bad bone in you when it comes to Frisk.  YOU are a good dad, Papyrus.  You really are."

Papyrus's hands shook, rattling the bottle slightly.  "...I'm no better than him..." he repeated.  "...because of what I did to YOU."

Sans visibly flinched, lowering his eyelights to his hands.  "...Papyrus...that's different..."

"It ISN'T, and you KNOW it," Papyrus snapped.  "I beat you, mutilated you, RAPED you...!"  He cut off, pressing a hand to his teeth.  "Just....just like HE did...EXACTLY as he did, with--with the tendril magic--"

"PAPYRUS.  STOP."  Sans rubbed his face hard before reaching over and resting a hand on his brother's arm.  "...Papyrus....yes.  You were cruel.  You were heartless.  You were MERCILESS.  But...I was no better when YOU needed ME the most."

"Sans, no--"

"And NOTHING MADE ME STAY.  I felt I DESERVED your cruelty!  I can still remember you as a child, Papyrus...how sweet and kind and generous you were, a shining diamond in the SHIT of the Underground, and I DESTROYED that!  _I_ was no better than our father for doing that!"  Tears dripped down his cheekbones, his hand tightening around Papyrus's arm.  "But...I....after you were cruel, you were kind....you gave me a place to live....clothes to wear, food to eat....you protected me and...and after you fucked me you just held me, and..."  His breath hitched, crying harder.  "...and...things changed....when you gave me an out.  I didn't WANT an out, I just wanted YOU--"

Papyrus shoved the table out of the way, pulling Sans to him and hugging him tightly.  Sans buried his face into Papyrus's shoulder, sobbing as he held his brother tightly.  "I just wanted my brother back, Papy...I didn't care HOW....and I LIKED what we had, I DID, I REALLY DID...!"

"Quiet, Sans," Papyrus said, resting his hand on Sans's head, petting softly as Sans went silent.  "...it doesn't matter if you liked it...it was HOW it happened that was wrong.  And if I could do those things to my own brother...what if I lose my temper around Frisk?  What if I have an episode of rage?  What if I get the URGE to--"

"You won't."  Sans said wetly, hugging Papyrus tighter.  "...Papyrus...you've....you've never EVER struck out at someone who never hurt you first.  That's your justice...a personal law you've never broken.  You WON'T hurt Frisk.  I know you won't."  He wiped his eyes, leaning back to look Papyrus in the eyelight, reaching up to lightly touch his brother's skull crack.  "Whether I truly deserved it or not...karma bit me in the ass for doing this to you....but...it turned into something we both wanted...something we both NEEDED."  He leaned in, pressing his teeth to Papyrus's skull crack.  Papyrus's cheekbones went red before he hugged Sans to him tightly again.

"...I suppose it was," Papyrus replied.  "...but it's not something we...NEED anymore, is it?" 

Both of them remained quiet for a long time.

"...Sans...you deserve someone who makes you happy...someone you can have a real future with."  Papyrus pressed his teeth to Sans's head before setting his brother on the floor and standing up.  Sans's eyelights constricted as he grabbed Papyrus's hand tightly, squeezing it.

"Papyrus...I..."  He shook hard, wiping at his face.  "...I love you, Papyrus....I...I don't wanna lose you...!"  He broke off when Papyrus tipped his head up and kissed him lightly before leaning back.

"...you won't lose me, Sans," he replied, petting Sans's cheekbone.  "...I'll always be your little brother."  He squeezed Sans's hand before letting go and quietly going to his bedroom, leaving Sans in the kitchen, tears of joy and sadness running down his face.

* * *

 

Sans didn't quite know how, or even when it actually happened, but at some point or the other, he found himself fully moved into Toriel's orphanage, helping her take care of the kids with all the big-brother love he kept locked away for years and feeling his soul soften little by little every day he was with her.  Being around kids really had him tone down his jokes, and he found that he liked making the kids and Toriel laugh with the best of his puns.

He was outside now, watching the kids run around and play as Toriel picked flowers for the vases around the orphanage, feeling his cheekbones grow warm at the sight of her white fur gleaming in the sunlight, her soft smile, her ruby-colored eyes sparkling as she spotted him watching and gave him a wave, making him blush harder.  Gods, she was amazing...

Familiar voices turned his attention from her, glancing over the lawn and seeing Papyrus walking down the path with Frisk, the tall Skeleton carrying a bag of groceries, his voice carrying loudly as he was telling Frisk that even if they WERE a pacifist, taking self-defense lessons from him was still a good idea.  Frisk gave him a dubious look but smiled, spotting Sans and waving enthusiastically.  Papyrus glanced over, his expression somewhat unreadable though his eyelights were soft as he gave Sans a nod before going about his way with Frisk, going back to his conversation.

Sans watched them walk away, feeling a soft pang in his soul that was quickly soothed when Toriel leaned over his chair and gave his skull a light surprise kiss and told him it was almost time to get the kids inside for dinner.  He grinned and stretched before standing up and rounding up the giggling kids with blue magic and heading inside with them, feeling glad that Papyrus was taking his role as 'father' to heart.

Heh, wow......he and Papyrus had homes...had lives....and had love.

And it occurred to him, finally, that he was happy.


End file.
